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Scroll down for the audio and video. On a cold bright Wednesday morning fifty years ago in the Soviet town of  Turatam, a rocket launched a man into space. A critical initial step for any civilisation that eventually travels to the stars. Any first is both special and trivial. Special because by definition it only happens once and arises from a complex set of circumstances that happen to come together at that point in time.  It is trivial in the sense that there is nothing necessarily unique about the individuals that are involved. They too are chosen by circumstance largely beyond their control. Driven perhaps by a desire for personal glory, an overwhelming sense of duty or an innate curiosity to explore, the early space travellers and those who facilitated it overcame personal challenges, exhaustive training and exposure to unrivalled grave danger to bring a new experience to mankind. Less than a month after his 27th birthday, Yuri Gagarin was launched into space aboard Vostok 1. Fifty years on, there ar